Connecticut
Student says he's sorry for mac and cheese meltdown
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A University of Connecticut student who went on an obscenity-laced tirade against food service workers when they refused to sell him jalapeno-bacon macaroni and cheese has apologized.
Luke Gatti acknowledged in a 2 1/2-minute video posted online that he was drunk and said he was ashamed of his behavior.
Gatti, a 19-year-old freshman from Bayville, New York, was due in court Tuesday on charges of breach of peace and criminal trespass stemming from his Oct. 4 outburst at the university's student union food court in Storrs, where the university is based. His mac and cheese meltdown was captured on video and has been widely viewed online.
Police and food service supervisor Dave Robinson said Gatti was refused service because he was carrying an open alcohol container. Gatti was shown on video arguing with and shoving Robinson.
"Nobody deserves to be treated that way, ever," Gatti says of Robinson in his apology video. "At the time I was, to say the least, very intoxicated."
He says he was shocked when he first saw the video of his tantrum.
"I was just watching it and saying 'Oh, my God, like what the hell is wrong with me?'" he says.
He says he has personal problems he's addressing and what happened at the student union was a "wakeup call."
Gatti shot the apology video, titled "Drunk UConn Student Apology Mac and Cheese," and uploaded it to YouTube on Sunday, his father, Vincent Gatti, told the Hartford Courant
"He's a kid that made a bad mistake," Vincent Gatti said. "My son was wrong and feels terrible about this."
Since the mac and cheese outburst, he said, his family has been subjected to a "barrage of yelling, screaming, cursing, obnoxious, horrible, hateful, spiteful people" critical of his son's actions.
Luke Gatti says in the apology video people who want to send him packages of mac and cheese should instead donate them to food pantries.
"There's a lot of hungry people out there," he says.
Some UConn students have started an online fundraiser to show their support for the food service workers.
Gatti previously was a student at the University of Massachusetts and was arrested twice last year on disorderly conduct charges, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. During one of those arrests, he was accused of using a racial slur against a police officer, court filings show.
Oklahoma
Man arrested in disappearance of young girl in 1997
MIDWEST CITY, Okla. (AP) - Authorities in suburban Oklahoma City have arrested a neighbor in the case of an 8-year-old girl who went missing from her bedroom in 1997.
An affidavit released Tuesday by Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes says investigators used DNA to link 56-year-old Anthony Palma to the disappearance and presumed death of 8-year-old Kirsten Hatfield.
Palma was arrested Monday on first-degree murder and kidnapping complaints.
Blood was found on Kirsten's windowsill and her underwear was found in her backyard, but the girl has not been seen since.
The affidavit says Palma willingly gave a DNA sample in June to investigators. The affidavit says results showed a match of one in 293 sextillion.
Court records don't list an attorney for Palma, who is being held without bond.
California
Man suing over injury from giant pine cone in SF
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A Navy veteran is suing after what his lawyer describes as a 16-pound pine cone fell and crushed his skull in San Francisco.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1juNiqP ) that Sean Mace is suing the U.S. government, the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior and San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park for $5 million.
Mace's attorney Scott Johnson says the veteran was relaxing under a non-native pine tree at the maritime park when the cone fell, causing an irreversible brain injury. Johnson says Mace has had two surgeries and requires a third.
The park has already fenced off the grove and added signs warning "Danger: Giant seed pod falling from tree."
Representatives from the U.S. attorney's office and San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park did not return requests for comment.
New York
Twitter suspends accounts after NFL complaints
NEW YORK (AP) - Twitter accounts for websites Deadspin and SB Nation were suspended by the social media platform Monday night after the NFL filed notices related to their use of copyrighted video highlights.
The NFL told The Associated Press that it requested Twitter "disable links to more than a dozen pirated NFL game videos and highlights that violate the NFL's copyright," adding that it did not request that any Twitter accounts be disabled.
The NFL sent 18 Digital Millennium Copyright Act notices regarding the Gawker-owned Deadspin account, said Gawker social media strategist Terron Moore via Twitter.
Both suspended accounts regularly use GIFs of highlights from sporting events, including NFL games. The SB Nation account that was suspended, @SBNationGIF, specializes in such highlights.
The main Deadspin account was down for roughly an hour before being re-activated around 8 p.m. EDT, while @SBNationGIF was still suspended.
Both Deadspin and SB Nation still had NFL video highlights featured on their sites, and the Deadspin account still included posts with GIFs from NFL game broadcasts when it was re-activated.
Deadspin, which doesn't hide its disdain for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, announced its return by tweeting a photo linking to a story titled "The Many Horrible, Stupid Faces Of Roger Goodell: A Gallery Of Authoritarian Derp."
In August, the NFL and Twitter announced a two-year content and advertising deal that expanded upon prior relationships between the league and the social media platform. The deal promised to funnel more NFL video highlights and pictures from games through Twitter, with the site using an automated formula to prominently display NFL tweets and related ads in the streams of accountholders likely to enjoy the information.
Published: Wed, Oct 14, 2015
